Attributed to 劉向 Liu Xiang.	Chapters of the Liexianzhuan
	Exemplarious translation: 1. 赤松子 赤松子者，神農時雨師也。服水玉以教神農。能入火自燒。往往至崑崙山上，常止西王母石室中，隨風雨上下，炎帝少女追之，亦得仙俱去，至高辛時，復為雨師，今之雨師本是焉。 Master Red Pine (Chi Song Zi; a story also contained in the Soushenji and the Taiping guangji) Master Red Pine was Master of Rain during the time of the Holy Landlord. He consumed liquid jade, a technique he recommended to the Holy Landlord. He was able to step into a fire without suffering burnings. He often went on the top of Kunlun mountain and rested in the stone chamber of the Queen Mother of the West, following wind and rain to walk up and down. The youngest daughter of emperor Yandi, following him on his journeys, also obtained immortality and departed with him together. During the time of king Gaoxin, he became again Master of Rain, and thus is the origin of the actual Master of Rain. 5. 黃帝 黃帝者號曰軒轅，能劾百神，朝而使之，弱而能言，聖而預知。知物之紀。自以為雲師，有龍形。自擇亡日，與群臣辭。至於卒，還葬橋山。山崩，柩空無尸。唯劍舄在焉。 《仙書》曰，黃帝採首山之銅，鑄鼎於荊山之下，鼎成，有龍垂鬍髯下迎，帝乃升天。群臣百僚悉持龍髯，從帝而升，攀帝弓。及龍髯拔而弓墜，群臣不得從，仰望帝而悲號。故後世以其處為鼎湖，名其弓為烏號焉。 The Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) was styled Xuanyuan "High Shaft". He was able to stimulate the hundred spirits, to call them to his court and to command them. He could already speak when he was a baby and knew the future thanks to his divinity. He knew the nature of all things and made himself Master of Clouds, having the shape of a dragon. The Yellow Emperor chose himself his days of absence and took his leave from the ministers. When he died, he was buried on "Bridge Mountain" Qiaoshan. The mountain later collapsed, and his coffin was discovered to contain no corpse, only sword and sandals. The Book of Fairies says, the Yellow Emperor collected ores from the "Head Mountain" Shoushan and casted a ding tripod at the foothills of Mount Jingshan. When the tripod was finished, a dragon with a long beard came down from heaven to look after the Yellow Emperor, who immediately ascended to Heaven. His ministers and officials all tried to catch the beard of the dragon and followed the emperor. When they tried to clamber the emperor's bow, the dragon's beard came off. The bow falling down, all the ministers were not more able to follow their emperor, watched after him and cried loudly. Later generations gave this area the name "Tripod Lake" and called the bow "Crow's Cries". 9. 老子 老子者，名耳，字伯陽，陳人也。生於殷時，為周柱下史。好養精氣，貴接而不施。轉為守藏史。積八十餘年，史記云二百餘年，時稱為隱君子。謚曰聃。仲尼至周，見老子。知其聖人，乃師之。後周德衰， 乃乘青牛車去。入大秦，過西關。關令尹喜待而迎之。知真人也。乃強使著書，作《道德》上下經二卷。 The Old Master (Laozi)'s name was Er, his style was Boyang, and he was from the state of Chen. He was born during the Yin (Shang) dynasty and served as a scribe "under the pillar" under the Zhou dynasty. He liked to live from his own breathe's essence and knew how to acquire it without spending too much. Later, he became archivist and served for more than eighty years - the Shiji says, for more than two hundred years - and his contemporarians called him "the hidden nobleman". His posthumous name is Dan. Once, Zhongni (Confucius) went to Zhou and met Laozi. Confucius knew that Laozi was a wise man and accepted him as his teacher. Later, when the virtue of the house of Zhou vanished, Laozi mounted a chart, driven by a green-grayish ox. He traveled to the country of Great Qin, where he had to enter the Western Pass. The guardian of the pass, called Yin Xi treated him like a host because he knew that Laozi was a saint. Yin Xi forced Laozi to write down his teachings in a book with two chapters and the two parts about the Way and its Virtue. 10. 關令尹 關令尹喜者，周大夫也。善內學。常服精華，隱德修行。時人莫知。老子西遊，喜先見其氣，知其真人當過。物色而遮之，果得老子。老子亦知其奇，為著書授之。後與老子俱遊流沙，化胡。服苣勝實。莫知其所終。尹喜亦自著九篇，號曰《關尹子》。 Yin Xi, the Guardian of the Pass was an official of the Zhou dynasty. He was versed in esoterical science and lived normally from the purest essences, but he guarded his virtue like a secret and didn't let anybody know of it. When Laozi traveled to the west, Xi already knew that he was an emanation and was aware that he would pass by. Because Laozi's holyness radiated many colors that covered him, Yin Xi could finally get the Old Master Laozi. Laozi himself also knew that Yin Xi was an extraordinary person, and therefore taught him his book. Later, both together traveled to the Moving Sands, converted the barbarians and made their life from eating lettuce. Nobody knows what finally became of them. Yin Xi himself also wrote a book in nine chapters, called "Master Yin of the Pass" (Guan Yin Zi). 42. 東方朔 東方朔者，平原厭次人也。久在吳中，為書師數十年。武帝時，上書說便宜，拜為郎。至昭帝時，時人或謂聖人，或謂凡人。作深淺顯默之行。或忠言，或戲語，莫知其旨。 至宣帝初，棄郎以避亂世。置幘官舍，風飄之而去。後見於會稽，賣藥五湖。智者疑其歲星精也。 Dongfang Shuo is from Yanci/Pingyuan commandery. He stayed for a long time in Wuzhong where he was school master for several decades. In the time of emperor Han Wudi (r. 140-87 BC), he presented several proposals and was made a court director. In the time of emperor Zhaodi (r. 86-74 BC), some people argued if he was a saint, but others said he was an ordinary person, because sometimes he had a very profound attitude, sometimes a superficial one, sometimes he was very open-minded, but sometimes very reserved. Nobody knows what to think about him, because he could be very sincere, but also extremely playful. During the reign of emperor Xuandi (r. 73-49 BC), he retired from office to escape the chaos of the official world. After laying down his director cap in the office, he was blown away by the wind. Later he was seen at Guiji where he sold drugs in the area of the Five Lakes. Wise people esteem that he was the spirit of the planet Jupiter. Translated by Ulrich Theobald.